Much of the primary related diary discussion these last few days has been about Barack Obama and John Edwards. And not on substance, but on style.
Several Edwards diarists -- and thats what they are, I honestly don't mean that pejoratively -- have managed to plant this narrative in the blogosphere that Obama hopes he can sweet talk the special interests and the Republican operatives in Washington into negotiating with us. After setting up this strawman, they ensure us that only John Edwards can be a fighter.
Obama, speaking to over a thousand people in Ceder Rapids tonight, answered that about as directly geared towards the sniping in the liberal blogosphere than anything I've ever seen in a campaign rally.
In the video, Obama makes points that several of us "Obama fan-boys" have been trying to make for months. That he is NOT calling for compromise with Republicans, but that he believes in a theory of change, based in his experience on the streets of Chicago, that will help him steal voters away from the divisive conservative fear mongers and special interests and build a progressive majority.
Except, per usual, Obama puts it better than any of us could. Listen to the applause he draws as he outlines his style. The independent, disengaged voters that his ground game has targeted for these rallies eats this message up. Its with those voters that we will change this country and finally finish off the 28 percenters.
These are the stakes in this election. This is what matters. How do we seize this opportunity -- when people that may not be Rush Limbaugh fans or read the National Review, but have on occasion been misled into voting for Bush, are really, honestly listening to Democrats for what WE have to offer -- to build a coalition for change?
Obama has gotten change accomplished in his life when it wasn't easy to do it. He got right wing "law and order" advocates to support videotaping capitol case interrogations in Illinois -- when they were all ready to demonize him for doing it. He won broad based support for anti-racial profiling legislation when nobody else was winning on that issue anywhere in America. He won consensus for the most sweeping ethics reform in Illinois had seen in generations -- and repeated that feat when he arrived in Washington.
Like Senator Obama says... when you know where you stand and are secure in your principles, there is no harm in showing outside the beltway independent voters that you are willing to listen to the other side. That kind of tone is what gets OTHER people to listen to you. And that kind of tone is what wins real, lasting change.
John Edwards' has great ideas on where to take this country, and Barack Obama agrees with 99 percent of them. There difference in style amounts to a difference in their real experience with how they have brought about change in the face of entrenched interests. But because I'm that much more impressed by Obama's record of producing change, I am that much more convinced that his style will help us realize the kind of sweeping change we need.
(Thanks to the Obama campaign blog staff -- Sam and company -- for just posting this video)
UPDATE:
More from Obama in Waterloo. The crowd is eating this message up. And he is sharpening it. This guy looks like a fighter to me.
Change is Coming.